Locking and lifting mechanism for the guide



.Nov. 7, 1961 A. LATTION 3,007,210

LOCKING AND LIFTING MECHANISM FOR THE GUIDE ARMS 0F DRAFTING ARRANGEMENTS Filed Sept. 14, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 7 Fly 4 Nov. 7, 1961 A. LATTION 3,007,210

TING HANISM FOR THE GUIDE LOCKING AND ARMS DRAFT ARRANGEMENTS Filed Sept. 14, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L 17 [30 3129 32 2 9 3 311 llll V United States The present invention relates to a locking and lifting mechanism for the guide arms of drafting arrangements of spinning machines.

The conventional long guide arms of the weighting mechanism for heavily weighting the top rolls of drafting arrangements require considerable force to be moved from the operating position to an idle position and for returning the guide arms from the idle position to the operating position and locking the guide arms in the operating position. In order to overcome this disadvantage of conventional arrangements, a positioning lever swingable on a stationary fulcrum between a locking position and a lifted position and connected by an intermediate element to the guide arm, also swingable on a stationary fulcrum, has been proposed. In these arrangements the intermediate element is pivotally connected to the guide arm and to the positioning arm whereby the pivot axes are so placed that they are in or somewhat beyond a dead center position when the arms are in operating position. With this arrangement the arms can be easily locked in the operating position and unlocked when it is desired to lift the arms to provide access to the drafting arrangement.

The conventional mechanisms have the disadvantage that they must be held in lifted position, for example, when a top roller must be removed from its saddle.

The present invention overcomes the aforesaid disadvantage by providing a locking and lifting mechanism which includes a positioning arm swingable on a stationary fulcrum between a locking and a lifted position. A toggle joint connection is provided between this positioning arm and a guide arm which is also swingable on a stationary axis. This toggle joint connection includes an intermediate link which is pivotally connected to the arms and which is in locking position when the guide arm is in operating position and the positioning arm is in locking position. The pivotal connection between the link and one of the arms permits limited movement of the pivot axis towards and from the axis of the pivotal connection between the link and the other arm. This limited movability makes it possible to provide a guide surface on the positioning arm cooperating with a follower element on the guide arm. This guide surface includes a recess receiving the follower element to form a detent preventing relative movement of the guide arm and of the positioning arm when the latter is in fully lifted position so that the guide arm is held in lifted position as long as the positioning arm is in the lifted position.

The novel features which are considered characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, and additional objects and advantages thereof will best be understood from the following description of embodiments thereof when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a part sectional side view of a drafting arrangement having a guide arm and a positioning arm connected according to the invention; the section appearing in FIG. 1 is made along line II in FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the mechanism l atent IQQ 2 7 shown in FIG. 1, the section being made along line I=I-I=I in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a large scale illustration of the portion shown in section in FIG. 1 with the arms in an intermediate position.

FIG. 4 illustrates the portion shown in section in FIG. '1 with the arms in fully lifted position whereby the guide arm is in the idle position.

FIG. 5 is a sectional side View of the rear portion of a modified mechanism according to the invention, the section being made along line V-V in FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 5, the section being made along line VI--VI in FIG. 5.

Referring more particularly to FIGURES 1 to 4 of the drawing, numeral 1 designates an attachment mounted on the roller stand 2 of a drafting arrangement. At each pair of drafting fields a clamp element 4 is clamped to a rod 3 supported by the attachment 1. The clamp element 4 can be released from the rod 3 by loosening a bolt 5. A guide arm 7 having an inverted U-shaped cross sectional configuration is swingably connected to the clamp element 4 by means of a pin 9 extending through the flanges 8 of the arm 7 and through lugs 6 forming part of the clamp element 4. Also swingably mounted by means of a pin 10 extending through the lugs 6 of the clamp element 4 is a positioning arm 11 having an inverted U-shaped cross sectional configuration and being placed above the guide arm 7. The forward end 12 of the positioning arm all is slightly bent upward and is provided with a ball-shaped handle 13 extending somewhat beyond the forward end of the arm 7. A pivot pin 14 is connected to the rear portion of the positioning arm 11. The pin 14 extends through a slot 17 in a link 15 which is pivotally connected to the guide arm 7 by means of a transverse pin 16. As seen in FIG. 1, the longitudinal axis of the slot 17 coincides with the longitudinal axis of the link 15. The pin 14 moves in the slot 17 when'the positioning arm 11 is lifted whereby the longitudinal axis of the slot 17 and of the link coincides with. the line connecting the axes of the pins 14 and 16. Leaf springs 18 and 19 are inserted between the pins 14 and 16 on either side of the link v15 and tend to increase the distance between the pins 14 and 16. As seen in FIG. 3, a part circular recess 20 is provided at the rear ends of the flanges 11 and 11" of the positioning lever 11 which recess engages about 45 of the circumference of a follower bolt 21 when the positioning lever 11 is in fully lifted position and the guide arm 7 is also in lifted, ie. idle, position. The bolt 21 connects the rear ends of the flanges of the guide arm 7 and has a diameter to effect the aforementioned extent of engagement between the detent 20 and the bolt 21. The detent 20 continues into a little cam 22 which prevents undesired slipping of the bolt 21 out of the detent 20. The cam portion 22 forms parts of a guide surface 23 which ends at the lower rear edges 24 of the flanges 11 and 11 of the positioning arm '11.

The device operates as follows:

When the guide arm 7 is in the operating position shown in FIG. 1, the pivot pin 14 is placed slightly beyond the dead center position of the positioning arm 11 and the link 15, and an abutment 25 provided on the positioning arm 11 presses against the guide arm 7. The mechanism 14 to 17 forms a toggle joint.

In order to provide access to the drafting arrangement, the positioning arm 11 is lifted so that the pivot pin 14 is moved past dead center position and to the right end of the slot 17. Lifting is continued until the rear end of the lower edges 24 of the flanges of the.

positioning arm 11 abut against the bolt 21. The follower bolt 21 moves along the edges 24 upon continued swinging of the positioning arm 11 in clockwise direction whereby the guide arm 7 moves upward towards the positioning arm. The distance between the pins 14 and 16 is thereby reduced against the action of the springs 18 and 19 and the pin 14 moves away from its right end position in the slot 17. Thereupon the bolt 21 moves along the guide surface 23 and into the part circular recess 20. The springs 18 and 19 can now press the pin 14 to its far end position in the slot 17 so that the pivot axes of the pivotal connection are farthest apart (FIG. 4). The positioning arm and the guide arm are now in the uppermost position and the latter is secured against undesired swinging away from the positioning arm in counterclockwise direction. This detent effect can be overcome by pulling down the positioning arm whereby the cam portion protuberance 22 presses against the bolt 21.

In the modification of the device shown in FIGS. and 6 the guide 26, the cam 27 and the detent 28, corresponding to the guide 23, the cam 22 and the detent 20, respectively, in the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 4, form part of an intermediate element 29, i.e., they are arranged separate from the positioning lever =11. The element 29 is connected to the arm 11 by means of pins 30 and 31, the former corresponding to the pin 14 in the device shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. In order to provide space for the additional element 29 between the flanges of the positioning arm 11, a pair of wire springs 34 and 35 is used instead of the leaf springs 18 and 19 and two relatively thin links 32 and 33 are provided in lieu of the link 15 of the device according to FIGS. 1 to 4. The element 29 is easily detachable from the positioning arm 11 so that provision of a most favorable guide surface 26, 27, 28 is facilitated and the part forming the guide surface can be easily replaced.

I claim:

1. In a drafting arrangement, a guide arm, a stationary fulcrum swingably supporting said guide arm and affording swinging of the latter between an operating position and a lifted position, a positioning arm, a stationary fulcrum swingably supporting said positioning arm and affording swinging of the latter between a locking position and a lifted position, a toggle joint connection between said arms, said toggle joint connection including a link, a first pivotal connection between one of said arms and said link, a second pivotal connection between the second of said arms and said link, said toggle joint connection and said positioning arm being in looking position when said guide arm is in the operating position, and cooperating detent means connected to both of said arms for positively holding said guide arm and said positioning arm in lifted position after placing said positioning arm in lifted position, said second pivotal connection including means permitting limited movement of the pivot axis thereof towards and from the pivot axis of the first pivot connection, during engagement and disengagement of said detent means.

2. In a drafting arrangement as defined in claim 1 and wherein said second pivotal connection includes a slot in said link, the longitudinal axis of said slot being substantially radial of the pivot axis of said first pivotal connection, and a pin rigidly connected to said second arm and extending through said slot.

3. In a drafting arrangement as defined in claim 1 and wherein each of said pivotal connections includes a pivot pin, resilient means being interposed between said pins tending to press said pins apart.

4. In a drafting arrangement as defined in claim 1 and wherein said arms individually have portions abutting against each other when said guide arm is in the operating position and said positioning arm is in the locking position.

5. In a drafting arrangement as defined in claim 1 and wherein said detent means includes a surface portion on said positioning arm and a follower means on said guide arm, said follower means being engaged by said surface portion when said positioning arm is lifted and the pivot axes of said pivotal connections are farthest apart.

6. In a drafting arrangement according to claim 5 and wherein said surface portion continues into a guide portion pressing against said follower means and additionally lifting said guide arm upon continued lifting of said positioning arm whereby the distance between the pivot axes of said pivotal connections is reduced.

7. In a drafting arrangement according to claim 6 and wherein said guide portion includes a protuberance moving past said follower means upon continued lifting of said positioning arm and impeding return movement of the latter.

8. In a drafting arrangement according to claim 7, said guide portion having a recess which is complementary to said follower means and which is engaged by the latter after movement of said protuberance past said follower means.

9. In a drafting arrangement as defined in claim 1 and wherein said detent means includes an element detachably connected to said positioning arm and having a surface portion, and a follower means on said guide arm, said follower means being engaged by said surface portion when said positioning arm is lifted and the pivot axes of said pivotal connections are farthest apart.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Kubler Dec. 23, 1958 

